Cloaks #01 Review

From Boom! Studios comes Cloaks, a series created by David Henrie ("Wizards of Waverly Place"), written by Caleb Monroe and illustrated by Mariano Navarro.

The story revolves around a boy named Adam, who's had a rough start in life, thus leading him to embrace the life of a modern-day Robin Hood. When he's not hustling on the streets with his masked magic show, he's infiltrating the wealthy Wall Street elite and using his skills as an illusionist to chip off a piece of their wealth to distribute to others more deserving of it.

This first edition was overall interesting but there were a few small issues we had with it. It could have done without the Banksy reference, as pretentious gentrification leaves a bad taste in my mouth. We were also left a tad confused by the characterisation of Adam, as all directions pointed to his being a meticulous and organised planner, not to mention secretive, yet he impulsively revealed his identity to a tourist he had just met. Impulsivity of youth, perhaps?

However, we greatly enjoyed the action. Writer Caleb Monroe constructed a terrifically exciting sequence that had similar tones to sleek spy films, particularly when accompanied with Mariano Navarro's art. Keep an eye out for the one full-page illustration, as it stood out above all else; we had to pause our reading just to take it all in. By the end, there was enough tension built and questions posed to make us want to know more about this world we had been introduced to and what comes next for our hero Adam. Bring on the next Cloaks!